← Back

news

Fellowship 2026 by the numbers: 3,000+ applied, 1,072 selected

2026-06-05

Fellowship 2026 by the numbers: 3,000+ applied, 1,072 selected

More than 3,000 students applied to Dev Weekends Fellowship 2026. We selected 1,072.

Those 1,072 fellows come from 222 universities across 30 countries, split across two paths: Full Stack AI Engineering and Data Engineering. We merged campuses, deduplicated by institution, and mapped the whole cohort so we could see exactly who is joining us. It is bigger and more global than we expected, and we wanted to share it with you.

The headline

MetricCount
Total applicants3,000+
Selected fellows1,072
Full Stack AI Engineering878 (82% of selected)
Data Engineering194 (18% of selected)
Universities represented222 (campuses merged)
Countries represented30
Fellows from Pakistan893 (83.3%)
International fellows179 (16.7%)

Getting selected meant standing out in a pool of more than three thousand. If you are one of the 1,072, that is no small thing.

From 3,000+ applicants to 1,072 selected, about 36 percent

Two paths, one community

Most selected fellows are on the Full Stack AI Engineering path with 878, while Data Engineering has a focused 194. Many universities show up across both paths, which tells us our fellows are picking a direction and going all in.

Selected fellows by path: Full Stack AI Engineering 878, Data Engineering 194

Where our fellows study

Ranked by number of selected fellows across both paths.

Top 10 universities by selected fellows
#UniversityFellowsFull StackData Eng
1FAST NUCES1058817
2University of Education1049113
3University of the Punjab (PUCIT)715516
4COMSATS University Islamabad42366
5UET37307
6Virtual University of Pakistan32284
7NUML31283
8University of Central Punjab (UCP)24186
9NUST23203
10University of Management & Technology (UMT)20146

University of Education, PUCIT, UET, and NUML all turned out across multiple campuses, which is why they stack so high once the campuses are combined.

Where in the world

Pakistan leads with 893 selected fellows, but the reach goes far beyond.

Pakistan 893 fellows and 179 international fellows across 29 countries

Here are the top countries outside Pakistan.

Top countries outside Pakistan by selected fellows
CountryFellows
🇮🇳 India117
🇳🇵 Nepal11
🇺🇸 USA8
🇬🇧 UK6
🇳🇬 Nigeria5
🇪🇬 Egypt4

Beyond these, fellows are joining from Morocco, Kenya, Palestine, Rwanda, Russia, Australia, Singapore, Spain, Italy, China, Turkey, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the UAE, Cyprus, South Africa, Algeria, Indonesia, Haiti, and DR Congo. Thirty countries in total, including names like King's College London, Politecnico di Milano, NYU Abu Dhabi, the University of Adelaide, and San Jose State University.

A few things that stood out

  • India brought 117 fellows, split across both paths (81 Full Stack, 36 Data Engineering).
  • The international cohort alone spans 29 countries, proof that this community is genuinely global.
  • Several universities placed fellows in both paths, and many of the largest fed in from multiple campuses.

Thank you, and what is next

To the 3,000+ of you who applied: thank you. Every application is a person, a stack of late nights, and a decision to bet on yourself, and that matters to us deeply. Being selected is a real achievement, and not being selected this round takes nothing away from you.

Fellowship 2026 applications are now closed, but Dev Weekends is not closing any doors. Public sessions, DSOC contributions, and a self-paced mentorship track are all on the way. Read what comes next and how to stay involved, and if you want to start building today, the open route right now is Dev Weekends Summer of Code.

This is only the beginning.

Dev Weekends Team

Dev Weekends - Your Gateway to becoming a better Software Engineer